Prospective clinical study of radial keratotomy.

A prospective clinical study of radial keratotomy was conducted at the University of Maryland. Results of surgery on 33 eyes of 19 patients with a minimum follow-up of seven months and a mean of 13.8 months are reported. There were eight patients (15 eyes) who needed adequate unaided visual acuity for occupational purposes. Preoperative visual acuity was 20/400 in 79% of eyes. Postoperative visual acuity was 20/50 or better in 48% of cases. However, in patients with preoperative refractive errors of 5 diopters or less, postoperative visual acuity was 20/50 or better in 84% of cases. Average decrease in myopia was 2.5 diopters. Decrease in myopia following radial keratotomy did not correlate with corneal curvature or whether 8 or 16 incision technique was used. However, there was a very significant (P = 0.001) difference in postoperative visual acuity of patients with refractive error of 5 diopters or less, as compared to those with greater than 5 diopters of myopia. Complications included corneal scarring, vascularization, and glare. No microperforation or endothelial cell loss was observed.